Morrison Town Board approved a “clean-up annexation” to include a small portion of state Highway 8 into Morrison town limits and provide jurisdictional clarity.

The project, which has been in the works since 2006, covers the space from the new Town of Morrison sign by Ozzi’s and moves east toward C-470 and the Phillips 66 gas station, which was formerly a Conoco. It includes the roadway and the bicycle path.

The addition is logical, considering most assume the area already is within Morrison’s jurisdiction.

“It was confusing. Everyone thought it was in town, but it was not in town,” said Mayor Sean Forey in a Dec. 18 board meeting.

However, it also helps the Morrison Police Department with emergency response. For example, if someone got in a bicycle accident on that stretch of pavement, the accident would previously have been in the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction — despite the area’s proximity to the Morrison Police Department.

“So the whole thing really provides the police department with the tools to increase our public safety,” said board member Katie Gill.

In order to annex the land into Morrison, the city and county of Denver, which owns a portion, had to sign off on it. According to information published on Nov. 14 in the Canyon Courier, Denver green-lighted the project via its water commissioners.

Forey annexation

Additionally, Forey and his wife, Celeste, are looking to annex and rezone a piece of property on 4th Street in Morrison that they purchased in 2013, according to Jeffco property records. The land is just south of the Bear Creek Center nursing home and east of the town post office.

Minutes from a Nov. 6 town board meeting show that zoning to R-1 or single-family residential would be in accordance with Morrison’s zoning regulations.

While the matter was slated for a public hearing on Dec. 18, the board voted to table the issue until January. Forey and his daughter, Venessa Angell, who also is a board member, were recused from the discussion.